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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Winter training schedule

It was ridiculously cold this morning. Eli had a party to go to at noon, so I wanted to get my run done in the morning. The temp was 14 degrees, with a "feels like" temp of 5. FIVE. I dressed for the cold and headed out at around 8:30. When I opened the door, Phoebe snuck out the door and took off.

I planned to just run 3 miles at a 9:15-ish pace. It felt pretty good today! I do love running in the cold, and when I'm dressed for it, it makes for a nice run. I briefly thought about going farther than four miles, but decided against it, because I knew Phoebe was going to be waiting to get back into the house. And sure enough, when I turned onto my street, she saw me and went running to the door.

She seemed so annoyed that instead of letting her inside right away, I was trying to get her picture ;)

After I took a hot shower, I decided to rewrite my training plan for this winter. Hahaha, I spent hours working on a very elaborate plan a few weeks ago, but because I enjoyed the Hansons Marathon Method of training for the Chicago Marathon, I decided I wanted to try out their half-marathon plan. So I used that as a base, and I made a few changes.

I'm going to do my long runs on Mondays. I like doing them on a weekday, and I thought it would be fun to change it up from Friday. I'm going to make Tuesdays my rest day, because I weigh in on Wednesdays, and I like to start my week with some Activity PointsPlus. I made the pace runs on Thursdays top out at 12 miles instead of 7. The speed work that I chose is from the advanced marathon training schedule. Anyway, this is what my training looks like for the next several months:

I've chosen my goal half-marathon race as the Rock CF Half in Grosse Ile on March 30. I really disliked that race when I did it last year, but I figured it would be better to do my goal race before the Ragnar SoCal rather than after it (since I plan to rehydrate after SoCal with plenty of margaritas!). However, I also scheduled a "back-up" race for the weekend after Ragnar: the Martian Half-Marathon in Dearborn on April 12. I really love the Martian, and that's where my current PR of 1:52:07 was run! So if I don't hit my goal at the Rock CF race, I'll try again at Martian.

My goal for the Rock CF Half is sub-1:50, which is an 8:24/mi pace (for a 1:49:59 finish). I'm aiming for an 8:15 pace for my pace runs on Fridays, however, just for a little cushion. I don't want the 8:24 pace to feel ridiculously hard on race day. I always tend to train a little faster than I actually run at the race, for some reason.

Writing all that out makes me a little nervous! I hope I'm not setting myself up to fail at this goal, but it definitely gives me something to work hard for. If I do it, I'll know that it was because I worked my ass off! If I don't, then, I'll just keep trying, I guess ;)

This afternoon, I took Eli to his friend's Bon Voyage party at an indoor water park. I told Noah that I would take him and just pay for him to get in, while Eli did the party, and Jerry ended up coming along, also. We'd only been there once before, and it was in November 2009; I was about 235 pounds at the time. I had lost almost 20 pounds at that point, but I was still really embarrassed to be in a bathing suit. I didn't go down the slides or play with the kids or anything while I was there.

Today, I wasn't planning to swim. I brought my suit, but I really hate swimming, so I didn't want to. But the kids were having fun going down the slides, and Jerry went down the slides with them; I just felt the same way I did at 235 pounds. I didn't want to be the mom that sits there and doesn't do anything (because I was that mom before I lost the weight!), so I changed into my bathing suit and asked the kids to show me their favorite slides. I went down the slides a few times with them.

I was very self-conscious of my thighs, because they are the tell-tale sign that I've lost a lot of weight. But I tried not to think much about it, and just tried to have fun playing with the kids. I'm glad I ended up doing it, because the kids were really excited that I went down the slides with them!
Just a reminder, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you have a picture of a health/fitness accomplishment you'd like to share this week, you can e-mail it to slimkatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com with the subject "Motivational Monday". Include a short description, and I may post it on the blog tomorrow!

I ran 12 miles in 25 degree weather this morning and thought I was going to die. I took me all day to warm up. I can't imagine doing it in colder weather even though I used to all.the.time. when I lived in Chicago. Denver has made me soft.

why is it that no matter what weight we're in some of us always tend to feel fat? It's sad :( I remember feeling fat all the time even when I wasn't and now that I am overweight I obviously still feel that way.

There are tons of really cute skirted and shorts suits around. You may feel more comfortable in something like that. I mean, feeling fat aside (I am, so duh I feel that way), it's more about being able to put aside the self-consciousness and just play. If a bit more coverage makes that possible, then it's worth it! Just a thought. :-)

Thanks for sharing... You put a lot of thought into it and have given me much to think about in putting together my own goals/training plan. Glad you made it to the slides... Your kids will remember it fondly :)

Your cats are so cute! I have some scars on my legs which I am self-conscious about, so I buy men's board shorts and wear those over my swim suit. They are flattering and usually go to my knees, so I feel much better when I am wearing those. I found some last summer in the men's section that are bright pink, so they look more feminine. Just an idea :)

Oh my gosh, looking at your intervals is freaking me out. Here I was moaning about doing 8x400, your first session is 12x400 and it only gets more intense from there. You are going to get so much faster and CRUSH your PR!

Katie - I think you will LOVE your new Hanson's schedule. I was super motivated by the Hanson's Half Marathon training program and took 20 minutes off my best time for my third HM using it. I used the slowest line on the chart and walked (quickly!) many, many miles of the training and it still worked GREAT. (and I was able to jog the whole race at 12:00 min/mile pace, even with a walking program training)I'm using it again to train for the Surf City HM in Huntington Beach, CA on Super Bowl Sunday in February. About the water park - if you want to you can use/wear short compression tights for water slides. No snuggies! I wear knee length compression tights at the beach to play frisbee and am so much less self conscious about flappy skin. otherwise - wear that bikini and your body as a badge of accomplishment!

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :)

Weight Stats

RUNNING

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Current Running Schedule

Mon- rest

Tue- Speed work

Wed- Easy run

Thu- rest

Fri- Easy run

Sat- Easy run

Sun- Long run

After training hard and running my best 10K this year, I am taking it easy through the summer. I run following the 80/20 Running ratio. For my easy runs, I use a heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate in the "easy" zone.

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